Three years ago, I sat on a ledge with a fellow Little League All-Star coach, chatting about the usual meaningless stuff. It was our second year in Little League, and our first experiencing an All-Star tournament.

That coach told me that he and his 10-year-old son were leaving Little League. They were starting their own tournament team, and we were invited.

I didn’t give it much thought at the time. Talk of going from costs of $150 per year with Little League to a couple grand seemed like insanity. Not to mention the disappointment that this coach and player were abandoning something big we felt we were creating.

Fast forward to today, and things have changed. Things have changed a lot. Not only do we now have two years of tournament ball under our belts, but we are now starting our own team.

When I Was a Kid…

Any talk of tournament ball had always seemed crazy to me. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin. Wherever I went, I got the competition I needed, and I was always good enough to keep playing. Even as we moved around from town to town, those baseball experiences formed my childhood.

It didn’t feel like rec ball to me. Our high school and American Legion teams had won or participated in several state tournaments during and around the time I played. This seemed like competitive ball.

I grew up a baseball addict. When I was seven, the Brewers went to the World Series. I fell in love with that team, and to this day I’m still a Brewers fan — even though we live in Colorado. I even managed to raise my sons that way (how did I convince them to do that??).

I’ve always loved the game, but I’ll admit that it eventually became too much. That final year became less fun with each new season. First high school ball during my senior season. Then American Legion. Then fall ball for my college team. Then spring.

It didn’t help that our spring team was terrible. Not that I was particularly good either. Suddenly baseball felt like a year-around job, but with little payoff.

I burned out, and that was without tournament ball. I regret giving up the game I loved, and I didn’t want that to happen to my kids.

My Kids: The Early Years

For the longest time, we felt no need for “more.” Here in Parker, our oldest son Michael played rec ball and I coached him there through his eighth birthday. But by then, it felt that he had outgrown it. We both wanted more.

But around here, we didn’t have Little League. The options — at least as far as we could tell — were either rec ball or Hawks. To us at the time, Hawks was a ridiculously and unnecessarily expensive alternative. But many of our kids’ friends played Hawks.

So when Michael was nine, we made the decision to register him for Little League. Of course, there wasn’t a Little League in our town, so we’d travel to nearby Aurora.

That first year, we were too late for assessments, so Michael played in the minors for the Orioles. As always, I coached.

It seemed fine. It seemed like enough. But we also didn’t know any better.

The following year, Michael played his first year of 9/10 majors for that Little League. I again coached. And when he was selected for the All-Star team, I helped coach that team for the first of what would be four consecutive years.

We had a great group of kids on that team. Plenty of talent. But we couldn’t get past the district tournament.

Why? Well, we lost to more polished teams. These teams just happened to also play tournament ball.

The First Year of Tournament Ball: Initial Reluctance

A year after that first All-Star experience, that same group of kids again lost in districts. In fact, all of our teams at every level lost. And it was the same story every time: We lost to teams that also played tournament baseball.

One of the dads had taken it upon himself to start more than just a tournament team. He was going to start a league.

I initially thought it was crazy. The costs were too much. I didn’t want my kids to burn out. And I didn’t want to be one of those teams with matching bags, helmets and underwear.

But this was going to be different. We would all remain in Little League, but the purpose of this tournament team — available only to those who also played Little League — was to make us competitive in districts.

My wife and I talked it through, and we reluctantly agreed to join. Michael would play for the 12s, and I’d coach the 10s — my middle son Ryan would play up as a nine-year-old.

We Loved Tournament Ball

We may have taken a while to come around. But when we made it, we were in this life for good.

My boys loved tournament ball. I loved coaching it. We loved watching the games. And it was clear just how much better they got because of it.

The results were immediate. It was now obvious when we played our Little League games which kids played tournament ball and which didn’t. It got to the point where it was unfair.

Rewind to Michael’s first year of All-Stars, and you’ll recall that we couldn’t get past those tournament teams. Well, things sure changed in that first year of tournament ball.

Our 10s team not only won district, but we won state for the first time ever for that age group. Similar success was seen at every single level.

These kids — so rough around the edges when we started — got that much better because of tournament ball. There is no secret whatsoever to our success.

Looking back, there were several things that held us back from playing tournament ball sooner. And they are likely the same things keeping others back in similar situations…

Yes, It’s More Expensive

How much this stuff costs will depend on the team. Things like uniforms, number of tournaments, training facility, insurance and amount of travel all contribute.

If you play for a team that just stays locally, you can often expect to pay between $1,000 and $1,500. But that’s really bare minimum here.

Others easily spend $2,000, and often much more. But fundraisers and sponsors can also help keep the costs down.

Bottom line is that you should make sure that what you want to spend aligns with what your team wants to do.

Yes, It’s a Time Commitment

Make no mistake, I have very few free evenings from March through July. And weekend vacations just don’t happen anymore.

Again, the time commitment will depend on the team, but you should certainly expect that you’ll be extremely busy. Practices, tournaments and team bonding events all add up. And if you have multiple kids playing at the same time, I hope you like baseball!

Since many of these teams run on volunteers, also plan to help. Whether you’re the head coach, assistant coach, scorekeeper or team parent, the parents make the team successful.

Yes, You Can Play Other Sports

I know one of the concerns about tournament baseball is that kids become too specialized and no longer play other sports. But this doesn’t need to be the case.

Michael still runs cross country and track after playing basketball for several years as well. Ryan still plays basketball after finally giving up flag football. He also plans to run cross country.

Baseball shouldn’t be a job for these kids. They love it. But playing other sports is good for them, too.

Granted, there are sometimes conflicts. We do have to get creative running them from one sport to another. But it can be done!

No, You Don’t Have to Travel THAT Much

Some teams have an insane travel schedule. They’ll go to Cooperstown. Omaha. Texas. San Diego. Arizona. The list goes on and on.

But just know that you don’t have to do this if you don’t want that type of travel. Our first two years of travel ball, we never once traveled out of state.

Depending on where you play and the level your kids play at, it’s very likely there’s more than enough competition in state. We will do a handful of overnight tournaments that are farther away in state, and those are always fun.

But this type of commitment should be determined by the families. Decide up front just how much traveling you are willing to do.

Yes, Tournament Ball is Freaking AWESOME

The memories that have been formed from our boys playing tournament baseball have been amazing. So many awesome games. So many big moments. So many friends made and unique experiences.

We’ve spent so much time with the team — the players, coaches and parents — that they have become our extended family. The bonds we’ve formed from this experience cannot be replaced.

While we were initially reluctant, the move was absolutely worthwhile. Our boys — who were already baseball crazed — are more obsessed with the game than ever before. They take pride in their team, and they work hard to get better.

As parents, we might be more stressed than before. Coaching this level certainly results in less sleep and higher blood pressure. But we wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything.

I don’t know whether our boys will one day play baseball in high school, college or beyond. That doesn’t really matter. All I know is that they are doing what they love at a high level, and seeing the joy on their faces is all the reassurance I need that we did the right thing.

Your Turn

What’s your story? How and when did you decide to join tournament ball? Or if you haven’t, what’s holding you back?

Not only was it St. Patrick’s Day, but it was a bigger holiday in our home: Baseball Assessments Day.

My oldest son had moved up to the 11-12 division, and my middle son Ryan was ready to take his place on the 9-10 year-old team. While he was only eight, he was more than ready to play with the big boys.

To celebrate the day, Ryan wore his green tuxedo shirt to assessments. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but the kid has more style than I do, so who am I to question it?

Since I was coaching, having him try out was simply a formality. He needed the number on his back, but I could have easily pulled him after it started.

None of us had any clue what was in store. What happened next could have easily changed the course of his young baseball future.

The Injury

It was a cold, windy day in Colorado. Not ideal weather conditions, but ideal weather for baseball in Colorado is rare until June.

Assessments that day would consist of drills for baserunning, fielding fly balls, fielding ground balls, hitting, pitching and catching. I would keep one eye on Ryan, but my main focus would be to help build a good supporting cast for him to help us defend our championship.

For fly balls, a pitching machine was used to shoot baseballs out at a high speed into the air for the waiting eight, nine and 10-year-olds. They merely needed to catch the three balls and throw them back in.

Because of the conditions that day, the trajectory on those fly balls was lowered. These kids would now be receiving line drives that cut through the wind.

It sounds dangerous now, but I wasn’t all that concerned about Ryan. He was young, but I never felt like he was in a position where he wouldn’t be able to protect himself. Unfortunately, the unexpected happened.

I stood to the side with my clipboard, anxiously waiting for Ryan to field his three fly balls.

I was no longer the coach. I sprinted out to Ryan, hoping it wasn’t as bad as it looked. He’s a tough kid, so when I saw him immediately go down and the tears started, I knew it probably wasn’t good.

Ryan was wearing sunglasses on this day, which may have been good or bad. The ball missed his glove and hit him over the eye. His sunglasses were pushed into his eyebrow, creating a huge gash.

Ryan was gushing blood. Other coaches, the president of the league and my wife were all attending to him now. We did our best to stop the bleeding. My wife scooped him up and we rushed him off to the car while parents and kids watched in stunned silence.

We sped Ryan to the emergency room. As we exited the car and ran him inside, I heard the seven words I feared:

“I don’t want to play baseball anymore.”

Ouch…

Understand why this hurt me as his dad, and it wasn’t for selfish reasons. While I love baseball, it wasn’t from disappointment that he wouldn’t be able to fulfill some old man dreams of mine.

Ryan sincerely loved the game. He was great at it. And I feared this moment was going to take that joy away from him.

Ten stitches later, Ryan’s physical healing began.

Emotionally, he remained delicate.

Looking at that picture of Ryan with his bear Patches just reminds me of how little he was at the time. Such an experience could easily scar him for the rest of his life.

We’ve all heard of professional baseball players who simply can’t recover after taking a baseball to the head. The fear at the plate or on the mound is too much to overcome.

My wife and I quickly put together a plan for how we were going to handle this to help Ryan recover emotionally — so that if he wanted to play baseball again, he could.

At this point, though, we didn’t know what to expect. If he decided he no longer wanted to play, I would have completely understood.

Step 1: Don’t Mention Baseball

The knee jerk reaction would be to immediately assure Ryan that he’s going to be fine, and he can still play baseball. Tell him to be tough and all of that nonsense.

But we knew he was fragile at this point. I was also nervous that mentioning baseball at this sensitive time would just make it worse.

For the first night, we initially avoided the topic entirely. We didn’t talk about him playing again.

What’s funny is that it wasn’t long — I believe it was that evening — that he wanted to watch a baseball movie. While he was clearly returning emotionally to thinking about the game positively again, we weren’t going to push it.

Step 2: Talk Through What Happened

Next, it’s time to talk through with him what happened and what he thinks about it all.

My approach was to have him talk as much as possible to sort through his feelings. I also wanted to be sure it was clear to him that it’s normal if he was at all nervous about playing again. That we’ll take his return slowly.

I asked him about what he said — that he didn’t want to play baseball again — and how he felt about that now. He assured me he wanted to keep playing baseball, so we put a plan in place to get him there.

Step 3: Reintroduce a Ball

He’s beginning to recover both mentally and physically, but it’s not time to start throwing baseballs at him. He’s still in his pajamas, lounging inside all day for now.

Looking like he was ready, I suggested Ryan get out a rubber ball and start tossing it against the wall.

This got Ryan to start thinking about throwing and catching again without putting him at any risk. And it took very little encouragement!

Step 4: Outside with a Tennis Ball

The next day, it was time to start doing some baseball-like activities, but with a tennis ball. So we went out into the front yard and I first threw some easy grounders to him. Eventually, we moved to playing catch.

This helped him rebuild any confidence that may have been lost after the accident. This ball won’t hurt, so any fear would be limited.

Step 5: Light Work with a Baseball

The next day, it was clear he was ready to take it up another level. We brought back the baseball — the thing that created that gash above his eye.

Similarly to the tennis ball, we started with easy grounders and moved up to soft throws back and forth. The key was to slowly build his confidence while increasing difficulty at a cautious pace.

Step 6: Hitting with Protection

The next day, I got him onto a baseball field. Not only a baseball field, but the field where he suffered his injury. It was time to pitch him some baseballs.

Now, I was probably more nervous about this than he was. I don’t trust my own accuracy — particularly in this situation — so I borrowed a helmet that has a protective mask to shield his face.

Pitch after pitch. I threw and he hit.

Step 7: Return when Ready

Ryan surprised me. Within a week, he was ready to return — no fear, just the same passion and excitement he had for it before.

But the key here is not to rush it. Build his confidence slowly, but there’s no reason to move him faster than is necessary.

Luckily for us, the weather got worse during the following week, so Ryan was given some extra time before our first practice. But he was fully ready, and there were absolutely no mental side effects of the injury.

Move at Your Child’s Pace

Given the injury, Ryan recovered much more easily than I expected. But the keys were that he had a desire to keep playing and we were going to support him at whatever pace he wanted.

Take it slowly. Only do things when your child is ready to do them without fear.

Possibly the worst thing you could do here is push him back into game action too quickly. Another episode could just result in him quitting for good.

Your Turn

Has your child ever experienced a major sports injury that required mental recovery? How did you handle it?

In sports, coaches are always looking for every advantage that can make the difference between winning and losing both games and tournaments. It’s a matter of understanding probability and strategies and applying them in ways that other coaches don’t.

I firmly believe that choosing home or visitor is an overlooked decision that can make that incremental difference. The vast majority of coaches, though, make this choice without thinking it through.

The Automatic Assumption

I’ve stood in that coaches meeting hundreds of times. And of the countless times I “lost” the flip, I can’t say there’s a single coach who chose to be the visiting team. Coaches are essentially flipping to see who is the home team.

While you can certainly make the argument that being the home team for a single game is either advantageous or offers no disadvantage, most coaches ignore the benefits of being the visitor in tournament ball.

The Home Advantage

“Home Field Advantage” is a term we’ve heard so many times, we assume there is some sort of inherent value in being the home team. But we forget about why that advantage exists.

There is an advantage to being the home team in sports — particularly college and professional sports — when teams travel to opposing facilities. It’s the home crowd that can provide the emotional lift for the home team or frustration for the opponent.

But when it comes to a baseball game being played on a neutral field, is there an advantage? We’re just changing the order of which team bats first or last. Each team will get the same number of opportunities either way — assuming they need them.

Does hitting first or last actually matter?

You could make the argument that having the home field would be an emotional advantage for a team with a dominant pitcher and a weaker offense. This allows that dominant pitcher to start the game and give his team an emotional lift while frustrating the opposition prior to that team coming to the plate.

However, you could just as easily make the argument that a strong offensive team should bat first to get that emotional lift. But since so few coaches choose to be visitor, that would not seem to be a driving force to this decision.

The argument is also made that having the final turn at bat in the game is an advantage. The idea here is that there is more pressure on the team in the field with so much on the line. I don’t know that this has ever been proven using controlled scenarios, but I have to imagine that the advantage is minimal — if anything at all.

The main thing I want you to understand here is that any value in these arguments is intangible.

Pitching Scarcity

Anyone who has been associated with tournament baseball knows just how valuable pitching is. There is a cap on the number of innings pitchers can throw to protect their arms — typically anywhere from six to eight innings in the tournament. As a result, you must be very careful about how you use these innings.

Tournaments tend to require that the champions play anywhere from four to eight games. And in order to do that — and win the final game — the coach needs to be strategic by winning games while saving as much good pitching as possible for the end.

Let’s look at extreme examples. You could use your best pitcher from the first day of pool play and move to your next best pitcher from there. This would give you the best chance of advancing to tournament play, but it would also give you the worst chance of winning a tournament game — and especially the championship game — since you won’t have any pitching left.

On the flip side, you could choose to save your three or four best pitchers, using your next four pitchers for pool play only. In that case, you’d be giving yourself the best chance to succeed in tournament play, but the worst chance of actually making it that far.

There’s a balance here. You need to use just as much pitching as you need to use in order to advance past pool play. And you need to use just enough pitching in each tournament game to win while having enough for the championship game.

Every time your best option isn’t on the mound it’s a bit of a risk. It’s a gamble that you believe you’ll be able to win without that best option.

The perfect scenario would be to save your ace for the championship game. That’s not always possible — actually, it rarely is. There are bound to be one or two close games along the way where you feel you must use your ace to advance.

The underlying point here is that each inning of pitching matters — a lot. And any coach for a tournament baseball team values these innings as they are often the difference between wins and losses.

The Visitor Advantage: In the Event of a Loss

Whenever there is a coin flip in pool play, it almost always makes the most sense to be the visitor. There is a tangible reason behind it.

Let’s take a game between Team A and Team B as our example. Team A wins the game 2-1. To simplify this, Team A scores both of their runs in the first inning while Team B scores their one run in the first as well.

So in this case, Team B will bat six times in a six inning game, regardless of whether they are the home or visiting team. Team A, on the other hand, will only bat the sixth time in the case where they are the visitor. Because as the team with the lead, they wouldn’t bat in the sixth inning as the home team.

In pool play, the coach is focused primarily on two things: 1) Making it to tournament play with a high seed, and 2) Saving pitching. Wins are important, but the main thing is that you do as well as possible while using as little pitching as possible.

In other words, losing is acceptable during pool play — to a point. You don’t need to go 4-0 to make it to tournament play; going 3-1 would get you there, too. Sometimes going 2-1-1 or 2-2 would get you there as well.

If you are the home team, you will always use a pitcher for each inning of the game — win or lose. As the visitor, you will use a pitcher in all but one inning if you lose.

I know, I know. “We always expect to win.” I’ve heard that argument against this approach. It’s shallow and misses the point.

By being the visitor in pool play, you aren’t saying you expect to lose. But if you do lose, you don’t need to waste a valuable inning of pitching. And that inning could prove to be needed the next day.

The Visitor Advantage: Bracket Seeding

How your team performs will determine where you will be seeded in bracket play — or whether you make it there at all. And the difference in your seed will often come down to tiebreakers.

Wins and winning percentage are always the first tie-breaker. That’s easy. But don’t ignore what’s next.

Tie-breakers vary from tournament to tournament, but they often include one or more of the following:

Runs Scored

Runs Allowed

Run Differential

If you are always the home team, think about how you are hurting yourself in each scenario…

1. Runs Scored: If you go undefeated in a 4-game pool play, you may have willingly passed on four innings worth of scoring opportunities.

2. Runs Allowed: If you are always the home team and you lose one or two games in pool play, you may have willingly pitched two innings you didn’t need to pitch, potentially increasing your runs allowed.

3. Run Differential: You hurt yourself both ways here. You’re giving up run-scoring opportunities in the final inning of games you win, and you’re putting your defense in the field in the final inning of games you lose. Those who reflexively choose home team will be hurting themselves in almost every tournament that uses run differential for tie-breaking purposes in bracket seeding.

This is so big, it amazes me I even need to write this blog post. If any of these three things are your tie-breakers for bracket play, you should be the visitor. Any argument against it lacks substance.

The Visitor Advantage: Managing Pitching

Unless it’s the championship game, being the visitor also simplifies managing pitching.

When you’re visitor, you will bat twice when the opposition bats once; bat three times when the opposition bats twice; bat four times when the opposition bats three times, etc. This means something. Let me explain…

Let’s say that you’re in the top of the third inning of a tight game, a 3-3 score. Your team is the home team. In that case, it’s smart to keep your best pitcher in the game for at least another inning to keep your team in it.

Now let’s assume that you’re the visitor in this tight game. Before deciding to put your ace back on the mound for the third, your team comes to the plate and breaks out for 10 runs. Suddenly, it no longer seems as urgent to use that ace pitcher for the third. You just saved him for a later game.

By choosing to be visitor, you give yourself more time to evaluate what’s happening in the game to determine whether you need to continue to use a pitcher or move to someone else. By being the home team, you can only make this decision based on the current score, not knowing what your offense is going to do in the bottom of the inning.

Try It

Next time you’re in that coaches meeting prior to a tournament game and you win the toss, pick visitors. Observe the surprise on the opposing coach’s face. And smile all the way to the dugout!

The truth is that when 99% of coaches choose to be the home team, you are going to win 99% of these flips. Because even if you “lose,” you’ll get what you want.

And what you want goes well beyond the results of that single game. You’re thinking ahead to bracket play.

The one task in baseball that kids enjoy the most is also the most difficult: Hitting.

What most kids — and even parents and coaches — don’t understand is that hitting is much more than simply putting the bat on the ball. A good hitter is a player who knows the strike zone and swings at his pitch.

But this is something rarely executed by young baseball players. They swing at bad pitches. They take good ones. And they don’t understand how situation dictates being more selective or aggressive.

In this post, we are going to take a closer look at what makes a good hitter, and the approach that you can reinforce with your players.

The Purpose of the Strike Zone

This sounds elementary. In a way, it certainly is. But when you think about the purpose of the strike zone in the first place, everything starts to make more sense.

There is a strike zone for a reason. If a pitch comes in over the plate between the knees and the letters (depending on the umpire), this is a pitch that can be handled. It’s a pitch that can be hit hard. As a result, the umpire punishes the batter if he doesn’t swing.

There are ball calls for a reason. If a pitch comes outside of the strike zone, it has been determined that it is not expected that the player should be able to easily handle that pitch. As a result, the umpire punishes the pitcher, assuming the batter doesn’t swing.

By swinging at strikes, you are giving yourself the highest probability to hit the ball hard. Hitting the ball hard leads to the greatest chance for a base hit.

By swinging at balls, you are giving yourself the lowest probability to hit the ball hard. Swinging at balls not only leads to more swings and misses, but when hit it will result in the lowest probability of a hard hit ball. As a result, this leads to the greatest chance for an out.

The Myth of the Bad Ball Hitter

Some hitters aren’t selective. They swing at bad pitches. And the reasoning provided is often that they are “bad ball hitters” — meaning that they are able to hit bad pitches as well as good ones.

This is largely BS. While there is an exception to every rule, I do not find this to be true of youth hitters. Instead, they cherry pick examples of the few times they hit bad pitches hard and use that as why they should do it again.

I guarantee you that if you were to compare when this “bad ball hitter” swings at both strikes and balls you would find that he hits the strikes far harder than the balls. In my experience, these players may hit a higher percentage of bad pitches hard than normal, but they also get out by swinging at those pitches far too often.

The Overly Aggressive Hitter

The overly aggressive hitter can hurt his team. There are very few pitches he doesn’t like. He swings often, which typically means he’s in a count that favors the pitcher. And by regularly being in two-strike counts, he becomes susceptible to the offspeed pitch and also forces himself to be more aggressive to protect the plate.

The overly aggressive hitter doesn’t value the walk. He thinks that his role is only to hit the ball. He fails to understand that if the pitcher does not provide him something hittable, that taking a base is preferable to swinging at a bad pitch — a swing that will likely result in an out.

The overly aggressive hitter tends to see fewer pitches. As a result, this also gives baserunners fewer opportunities to move up on the bases. Fewer stolen bases, passed balls and wild pitches. That will lead to this player hitting into more force outs, but it will also result in fewer runs scored on singles.

The Overly Selective Hitter

Granted, the overly selective hitter can be just as bad, if not worse. This player will almost always take at least one strike, if not two or three. He is too cautious — almost afraid to swing the bat.

The overly selective hitter seems to be looking for a walk. They believe that they are more likely to help their team by taking a walk than by swinging the bat. This is often due to a lack of confidence.

When facing pitching that struggles to throw more than 55-60% strikes, the overly selective hitter can actually put up some acceptable stats. They don’t get many hits, but they walk and get on base plenty.

However, you can’t put such a hitter at the top of the lineup because they can’t be counted on against pitchers who do throw strikes. They are too cautious and become very likely to strike out looking.

Going back to the purpose of the strike zone, the batter is given up to three good pitches to work with (not counting fouls). Each time an overly selective hitter allows a strike to be called, they are wasting an opportunity to hit the ball hard.

You’ll often see the overly selective hitter strike out after getting only one swing. They need to understand what happened there — that they only gave themself one chance to hit the ball. They wasted the other two.

The Selectively Aggressive Hitter

When a hitter balances selectivity and aggressiveness, the results can be magical.

I am coaching a hitter who both leads the team in fewest strikeouts and most walks. Not coincidentally, he also leads the team in batting average and most offensive stats.

This happens when a player understands the strike zone. He understands which pitches he can hit hard and which pitches he can’t.

This player then lets the bad pitches go by while attacking the pitches he can hit hard.

The biggest difference between the overly selective and selectively aggressive hitters is that the overly selective hitter is never truly prepared to swing. The selectively aggressive hitter is waiting for a pitch in a particular area, and if he gets it he jumps on it.

Note that the selectively aggressive hitter also understands his strengths and weaknesses. If he doesn’t handle the low outside corner strike well, he lays off of it until there are two strikes. We want to avoid weak hits, so taking a strike is okay when swinging at it is unlikely to result in a hit.

Enforcing A Productive Hitting Approach

Help your players understand that the strike zone is there to help them. If a high percentage of their swings are at strikes — pitches they are supposed to hit — they can expect a higher hard hit ball rate. If they swing at pitches outside that zone, they can expect the opposite results.

The first step is the breakthrough, helping them understand that this is a fact. Remind them when they swing at a good pitch and the result. Do the same when they swing at a bad pitch and it is hit weakly.

You can even turn this into a game for certain hitters who believe they are “bad ball hitters.” Start charting when they swing at good and bad pitches and the results.

Finally, it’s all about repetition. Have them simply stand in the batting box and take pitch after pitch after pitch. Before you call a ball or strike, have the batter call out what they think they saw.

Your best hitters aren’t passive. And really, you need your best hitters to be aggressive. They simply need to be aggressive on the right pitches.

Your Turn

What examples do you have of players being overly aggressive, overly selective and selectively aggressive? And how do you enforce a productive approach?

Playing time for youth tournament baseball teams is a tricky situation. It’s impossible to make everyone happy, and it’s important that coaches don’t leave kids and parents in the dark about the factors that impact how often players see the field and where.

The truth is that ability is only one of the many things that a player needs. And ability alone will not guarantee time on the field. Similarly, a player who isn’t gifted with ability can find himself on the field more often than not if he does some basic things that any player can do.

This post is aimed both at the talented and less talented players. If you are talented, don’t take that talent for granted. You must fulfill some other basic responsibilities.

If you lack that talent, you can become a valuable member of the team by doing all of these things.

1. Do You Hustle?

Most important of all. While kids have varying level of ability, every kid can — and SHOULD — hustle. All of the time. No exceptions.

It doesn’t matter how fast or slow you are. Run as fast as you can to first base. Everyone should be able to see the desire in your face!

Every coach will list this at the top of their list. We know from experience that too many outs occur every season because a kid doesn’t hustle. It can be that half step that leads to an out and ultimately either a win or loss.

A primary goal of every coach should be to hustle more than the opposition. If you run harder and worker harder than the other team, you are making them earn everything.

If there’s an easy ground ball hit to second base or the pitcher’s mound, a hustling player can make that fielder rush. When a fielder rushes, crazy things can happen.

If there’s a pop-up to the shortstop, the batter should always hustle through the base. Nothing is guaranteed at this level.

I also like when players hustle on and off of the field, to and from their positions. It shows a level of focus and commitment.

If you want to get into your coach’s good graces — no matter your ability level — do these things and he will love you for it.

2. Do You Support Your Teammates?

We are a team. We are a family. Ridiculing a struggling player cannot be tolerated.

Every kid will find himself in a slump at some point. They suddenly can’t hit. When they do hit the ball, it finds a glove. They aren’t making the plays in the field. Their confidence is as low as it can get.

One of the primary ways of turning these kids around is providing them the support they need. Their teammates need to be there to reassure them that they are a good player and they’ll be okay.

Much of the chemistry of a team has its foundation in the bad times. A good team needs leaders to help their teammates get through it.

3. Do You Communicate Well With Teammates?

When you’re in the field at shortstop, do you talk with your second baseman about responsibilities?

When something goes wrong, do you communicate constructively with your teammates to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

Do you lead or do you follow, waiting for someone to tell you what to do?

Every team needs a vocal leader who is a player and not a coach. The vocal leader is the one who players are most likely to follow.

4. Do You Focus Only On Yourself?

As a team, we win and lose as a team. The primary focus should be reflection on that team accomplishment.

After a big win, a good team player isn’t found pouting in the dugout about three strikeouts.

After a tough loss, a good team player isn’t smiling and joking around, bragging about his four hits.

A player focused on the team is most worried about team results. If he hits into a hard out that scores a run, he understands that this helped the team. The focus isn’t on his out.

Kids are immature, and it’s expected that there will be some level of selfishness. But the more selfless a player is, the more aware he is of his actions and the bigger contribution he makes to the team.

5. Do You Freak Out After Making Mistakes?

Players who struggle to control their emotions can provide major distractions from the team focus. We need to limit overreactions after individual mistakes are made. Throwing equipment, feet stomping and pouting cannot be tolerated.

Freaking out is not only counterproductive for the player, but it also sets a bad example for the team. It warns teammates that something is terribly wrong. It sets a tone of panic instead of confidence.

6. Do You Learn From Your Mistakes?

Mistakes happen all the time. It doesn’t matter what level you play at.

But the question is whether a player learns from those mistakes. A kid who loses control rarely has the awareness to learn from that mistake. They are focused instead on how angry or embarrassed they are.

You made an error, but what will you do to make sure it doesn’t happen again? Will you be prepared next time?

The umpire called a high strike, sending you to the dugout. Will you learn from this and be prepared to swing at it next time?

You missed a sign. Will you get clarifications on signs so you don’t miss it again?

The kid who learns from mistakes is the player who gets better. The kid who is stubborn and refuses to learn from his mistakes will be stuck in a perpetual holding pattern.

7. Do You Keep a Positive Attitude?

When the team is down by five, a coach needs the kids with the positive attitudes to step up. A team of players who mope in the corner can quickly spread the signal that it’s time to quit.

Players often don’t realize this, but their reactions impact teammates. Your decision to fight or quit is contagious.

This also applies to individual performance. Sometimes a player will get upset about a hard hit ball that results in an out, due to an amazing play by the other team. By getting upset, the player is focused on the result rather than the process. He should feel good about the hit and give the opposing player credit for the play.

Hard hit balls become outs sometimes. Soft hit balls become hits sometimes. It all evens out. We don’t call timeout after a soft bloop falls in for a hit and say, “Hey, Blue! That was a bad hit. I’ll take an out!”, do we? Of course not.

By focusing on the process, we can remain positive about the result — good or bad — as long as we did what we were supposed to do. If not, we learn from it!

No one wants to be around a negative person. It’s easy to be positive when things are going well. It’s the kid who remains positive during tough times who makes a special contribution to the team.

8. Do You Complain About Your Role?

As a coach, I can tell you first hand that one of my biggest pet peeves is players who complain when the lineup is announced and they aren’t where they want to be.

If you’re playing in right field, you become the best darn right fielder you can be. If you do that, your role will increase. If you complain about it, expect more of the same or the bench.

By moping and complaining, players are simply providing support for why their role shouldn’t be expanded. It’s selfish and shows a lack of self awareness.

Someone has to fill that role. If you don’t, someone else will. So by saying that you should be playing another position (one you haven’t earned) and a teammate should take your role, a player shows his selfishness.

Instead of complaining, pull your coach aside after a practice or game. Tell him how much you’d love to play that position. Ask what you can do to make yourself good enough to play there. And remind the coach that you’ll play wherever he and the team need you.

9. Do You Stay Focused?

These are kids so our expectations need to be reasonable depending on the age. But a player who remains focused is the player every coach wants.

While in the dugout, are you talking about things unrelated to baseball while the game is going on?

While in the field, are you set and ready when the pitch is being delivered?

Not only can a lack of focus set a bad example, but it is also a safety issue. A kid not paying attention is a magnet for accidents. And I can’t put such a player in harm’s way.

10. Do You Follow Instructions?

The example that comes up for me over and over again, is this situation…

The opposing pitcher is struggling to throw strikes. Maybe he just walked the last batter on four pitches. Maybe the bases are loaded. The kid in question has shown an inability to understand game situations or the strike zone.

In such a situation, I will often require the player to take until he gets a strike. It’s a simple request. But I can’t tell you how many times a kid will swing in that situation.

After it happens, I’ll pull the player aside. I’ll ask if he remembers my instructions. He’ll say he does. I’ll ask why he swung anyway. He’ll either shrug or say it’s because it looked like a good pitch.

Granted, this can sometimes be attributed to coaching. They need to understand what the instructions mean. They also need to understand why they were asked to do what they were instructed to do.

But eventually, a coach learns who he can trust and who is going to do whatever he wants to do.

11. Do You Fulfill Your Responsibilities?

It doesn’t matter what position you play, they all have responsibilities. Lots of them!

So whether you’re the catcher, shortstop or right fielder, you should know what your responsibilities are inside and out. You should know who covers second and when. You should know when you’re the cutoff man.

A coach’s job is to prepare the players and educate them on these responsibilities. But a player’s job is also to accept this education and apply it.

When a runner is on first and we’re in the field, I’m bound to yell out, “First or second, easiest base! Second and short, talk about your responsibilities!” I’ve yelled that more times than I can count (I can count pretty high!).

But sometimes I decide not to say anything. Will the players know their responsibilities without being told what to do?

The kid who does what he is supposed to do without being constantly reminded is a hugely valuable member of the team.

12. Do Your Actions Reflect the Situation?

A coach can talk and talk until he loses his voice, trying to help the players understand their roles, what they need to do and why. But eventually, something needs to click within the players. They need to start putting two-and-two together to understand why they should do things in certain situations.

If your team is down by one in the last inning and you’re the leadoff batter, it’s more important than ever that you are selective at the plate. We need you on base. If you swing at a bad pitch with a 3-1 count, you show you aren’t aware of the situation.

With a runner on second and a two-run lead, a clean single is hit to the outfield. An outfielder aware of the situation will throw the ball to the cutoff man, understanding they need to keep the hitter from second.

Again, it’s the coach’s responsibility to prepare and educate his players the best he can. But the coach’s voice will eventually become noise during a game situation if he is constantly reminding the players of every scenario.

A player who is thinking in the field about the situation and what they need to do — without the coach saying a thing — is the coach’s best friend!

Your Turn

A kid who applies these things — even without natural size, speed, arm strength or power — becomes a great youth baseball player. And while all of these things require work and preparation, none of them require ability.

Anything you would add to this list? Let me know in the comments below!